The X Factor (TV series)

For the original UK version, see The X Factor (UK).

For other uses, see X Factor.

Location of different franchises of The X Factor

  Own version

  Joint version

The X Factor is a television talent show franchise originating in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for Pop Idol. It is a singing competition, now held in various countries, which pits contestants against each other. These contestants are aspiring pop singers drawn from public auditions. The programmes are produced by executive producer Simon Cowell and his company SYCOtv. The "X Factor" of the title refers to the undefinable "something" that makes for star quality. The prize is usually a recording contract, in addition to the publicity that appearance in the later stages of the show itself generates, not only for the winner but also for other highly ranked contestants.

The format creator is Simon Cowell who used to also judge and mentor on the UK series. The UK version is responsible for the launch of the internationally successful singer Leona Lewis. As of January 2012, there have been 65 winners of The X Factor around the world, the most recent being Francesca Michielin from Italy.

Television stations in many countries, but especially the Scandinavian ones, have expressed an interest in showing the UK version, but have not been able to acquire the rights. This is due to legal issues as the British version of the show is only available in the UK and Ireland. The X Factor has completed its eighth UK series.

The similarities between The X Factor and Idol prompted Idol creator Simon Fuller, along with 19 Entertainment, to file a lawsuit against Cowell, SYCOtv, and FremantleMedia in 2004. An out-of-court settlement was reached in 2005 allowing Fuller to gain an executive producer status, a 10% share in The X Factor format, and preventing an American version until 2010. Fuller later filed a lawsuit again in 2011 after SYCO, FremantleMedia, and Fox Broadcasting Company failed to fulfill the settlement of crediting him as an executive producer of The X Factor USA.

Unlike Idol, where contestants are solely judged by the judges, on The X Factor each judge mentors the finalists in a particular category, aiding them with song selection and styling, while also participating together in judging the contestants of the other categories. As well as Idol, new singing show The Voice has become a rival show to The X Factor.

X Factor and other TV series of similar nature has become very popular betting objects. The show, and its very competitive and easy to understand style lends itself very well to betting. This has led to X Factor odds being offered with a wide range of betting operations. X Factor betting requires a whole lot different skills than traditional betting.

The X Factor series

Region/country	Local title	Television network	Seasons/series and winners	Judges	Presenters
Albania Kosovo	X Factor Albania	TV Klan Website	Season 1, 2012: Current season	Pandi Laço Vesa Luma Juliana Pasha Alban Skënderaj	Alketa Vejsiu Host Vera Grabocka Director
Arab world	The X Factor, XSeer Al Najah سير النجاح X	Rotana TV	Series 1, 2006: Rajaa Kasabni Series 2, 2007: Muhammad El Majzoub	Khaled El Sheikh (2006–2007) Michel Elefteriades (2006–2007) Nelly (2006) Anoushka (2007)	Joelle Rahme
Argentina	Factor X	El Trece	Season 1, 2012: Upcoming season
Armenia	X-Factor ԻՔՍ-ՖԱԿՏՈՐ	Shant TV Website	Season 1, 2010-2011: Vrezh Kirakosyan	Egor Glumov Naira Gyurjinyan Garik Baboyan Gisane Palyan	Aram MP3
Australia	The X Factor	The X Factor Network Ten (2005) Seven Network (2010–present) The Xtra Factor Network Ten (2005) 7Two (2010)	Season 1, 2005: Random Season 2, 2010: Altiyan Childs Season 3, 2011: Reece Mastin Season 4, 2012: Upcoming Season	Current Ronan Keating Natalie Bassingthwaighte Guy Sebastian Mel B Former Natalie Imbruglia Kyle Sandilands Kate Ceberano Mark Holden John Reid	Current Luke Jacobz Former Daniel MacPherson Natalie Garonzi (The Xtra Factor) Chloe Maxwell (The Xtra Factor)
Belgium	X Factor	VTM Website	Season 1, 2005: Udo Mechels Season 2, 2008: Dirk De Smet	Kris Wauters Jean Blaute (Season 1) Liliane Saint-Pierre (Season 1) Do (Season 2) Maurice Engelen (Season 2)	Koen Wauters (Season 1) Hadise (Season 2)
Bulgaria	X Factor	NovaTv Website	Season 1, 2011: Raffi Boghosyan	Maria Ilieva Vasko Vasilev Poli Genova Magomed Aliev - Maga	Deyan Slavchev - Deo
Chile	Factor X	TVN TVN HD Website	Season 1, 2011: Sergio Járlaz Season 2, 2012: Upcoming season	Current Tito Beltrán Mon Laferte José Luis Rodríguez Former Zeta Bosio Nydia Caro Karen Doggenweiler	Julián Elfenbein
China	The X Factor: Ji Qing Chang Xiang 激情唱响	Liaoning TV Website	Season 1, 2011: Li Shangshang Season 2, 2012: Upcoming season	Angie Chai Chih-ping Aduo Chen Yufan	Da Zuo Shao Wenjie
Colombia	El factor X	RCN TV Website	Series 1, 2005: Julio César Meza Series 2, 2006: Francisco Villarreal Series 3, 2009: Siam	Marbelle (Season 1-present) Juan Carlos Coronel (season 1-present) José Gaviria (Season 1-present) Wilfrido Vargas (El Factor Xs 2)	Andrea Serna
	El factor X: La Batalla de las Estrellas		Season 1, 2006: Luz Amparo Alvarez
	El factor Xs		Season 1, 2006: Andres Camilo Hurtado Season 2, 2007: Camilo Echeverry Correa Season 3, 2011: Shaira Selena Peláez
Czech Republic	X Factor	TV Nova Website	Season 1, 2008: Jiří Zonyga	Gábina Osvaldová Ondřej Soukup Petr Janda	Leoš Mareš
Czech Republic Slovakia	X Faktor	TV Prima TV JOJ	Season 1, 2012: Upcoming season	TBD	TBD
Denmark	X Factor	DR Website	Season 1, 2008: Martin Hoberg Hedegaard Season 2, 2009: Linda Andrews Season 3, 2010: Thomas Ring Petersen Season 4, 2011: Sarah Skaalum Jørgensen Season 5, 2012: Upcoming season	Remee (seasons 1-3) Lina Rafn (seasons 1-2) Thomas Blachman (seasons 1-2 & 4) Carsten "Soulshock" Schack (season 3) Pernille Rosendahl (seasons 3-4) Cutfather (season 4)	Lise Rønne (seasons 1-2 & 4) Signe Muusmann (Season 3)
Finland	X Factor	MTV3 Website	Season 1, 2010: Elias Hämäläinen	Linda Brava Renne Korppila Gugi Kokljuschkin	X Factor Heikki Paasonen Xtra Factor Jukka Rossi
France Wallonia	X Factor	France W9 (2009) M6 (2011) Website series 1 Website series 2 Belgium RTL TVI (2009–2011) Website series 1 Website series 2	Season 1, 2009: Sébastien Agius Season 2, 2011: Matthew Raymond-Barker	Current Henry Padovani Olivier Schultheis Véronic DiCaire Christophe Willem Series 1 Marc Cerrone Julie Zenatti Alain Lanty	Current X Factor Sandrine Corman F@n Factor Jérôme Anthony Former X Factor Alexandre Devoise
Germany	X Factor	VOX Kick-off on RTL Website	Season 1, 2010: Edita Abdieski Season 2, 2011: David Pfeffer Season 3, 2012: Upcoming season	Sarah Connor (Season 1-3) Till Brönner (Season 1-2) George Glueck (Season 1) Das Bo (Season 2-3)	Jochen Schropp Janin Rheinhardt (Backstage)
Greece Cyprus	The X Factor	ANT1 ANT1 Cyprus Website	Season 1, 2008-2009: Loukas Giorkas Season 2, 2009-2010: Stavros Michalakakos Season 3, 2010-2011: Haris Antoniou	Current Giorgos Theofanous Katerina Gagaki Nikos Mouratidis Former George Levendis	Current Sakis Rouvas (live shows) Giorgos Lianos (audition shows) Maria Sinatsaki (audition shows) Former Despina Kampouri (audition shows)
Hungary	X-Faktor	RTL Klub Website After X, X - Mindent az X-Faktorról Cool TV Website	Season 1, 2010: Csaba Vastag Season 2, 2011: Tibor Kocsis Season 3, 2012: Upcoming season	Current Feró Nagy Péter Geszti Ildikó Keresztes Miklós Malek	X Faktor Nóra Ördög Sebestyén Balázs (2010) After X Attila Müller
Iceland	X Factor	Stöð 2 Website	Series 1, 2006: Jógvan Hansen	Einar Bárðarson Elínborg Halldórsdóttir Páll Óskar Hjálmtýsson	Halla Vilhjálmsdóttir
India	X Factor	Sony Entertainment TV Website	Season 1, 2011: Geet Sagar	Sonu Nigam Shreya Ghoshal Sanjay Leela Bhansali	Aditya Narayan
Indonesia	X Factor	RCTI Website	Season 1, 2013: Upcoming season	TBA	TBA
Italy	X Factor	Rai 2 (2008-2010) Rai 4 (2009-2010) Website Sky Uno (2011) Website	Series 1, 2008: Aram Quartet Series 2, 2008-2009: Matteo Becucci Series 3, 2009: Marco Mengoni Series 4, 2010: Nathalie Series 5, 2011: Francesca Michielin Series 6, 2012: Upcoming season	Current Morgan (Series 1 - 3, 5 - 6) Simona Ventura (Series 1 - 2, 5 - 6) Arisa (Series 5 - 6) Elio (Series 4 - 5 - 6) Former Mara Maionchi (Series 1 - 4) Claudia Mori (Series 3) Anna Tatangelo (Series 4) Enrico Ruggeri (Series 4)	X Factor Francesco Facchinetti (Seasons 1 - 4) Alessandro Cattelan(Season 5) Xtra Factor Francesco Facchinetti (Season 4) Alessandra Barzaghi (Season 4) Max Novaresi (Season 5) Brenda Lodigiani (Season 5)
Kazakhstan	X Factor	Perviy Kanal Evraziya Website	Season 1, 2011: Dariya Gabdull Season 2, 2012: Upcoming season	Nagima Eskalieva Alexander Shevchenko Sultana Karazhigitova	Adil Liyan
Lithuania	X Faktorius	TV3	Season 1, 2012: Upcoming season	TBA	TBA
Netherlands	X Factor	RTL 4 Website	Season 1, 2007: Sharon Kips Season 2, 2009: Lisa Hordijk Season 3, 2010: Jaap van Reesema Season 4, 2011: Rochelle Perts Season 5, 2012: Upcoming season	Current Eric van Tijn Stacey Rookhuizen Angela Groothuizen Gordon Heuckeroth Former Henkjan Smits Marianne van Wijnkoop Henk Temming	Wendy van Dijk Martijn Krabbe
New Zealand	The X Factor	TV3	Season 1, 2012: Upcoming season	TBC	TBD
Norway	X Factor	TV 2 Website	Season 1, 2009: Chand Torsvik Season 2, 2010: Hans Bollandsås	Current Jan Fredrik Karlsen (Season 1-2) Elisabeth Andreassen (Season 2) Marion Ravn (Season 2) Klaus Sonstad (Season 2) Former Mira Craig (Season 1) Peter Peters (Season 1)	Current X Factor Ravi Guri Solberg Xtra Factor Peter Moi Brubresko, Katarina Flatland Former X Factor Charlotte Thorstvedt (Season 1)
Philippines	The X Factor Philippines	ABS-CBN	Season 1, 2012: Upcoming season	To Be Announced	KC Concepcion
Poland	X Factor	TVN Website	Season 1, 2011: Gienek Loska Season 2, 2012: Upcoming season	Current Czesław Mozil Kuba Wojewódzki Tatiana Okupnik Former Maja Sablewska	Jarosław Kuźniar
Romania	X Factor	Antena 1 Website	Season 1, 2011-2012: Andrei Leonte Season 2, 2012: Upcoming season	Mihai Morar Paula Seling Adrian Sînă	Răzvan Simion Dani Oțil
Russia	Sekret Uspekha Секрет Успеха	RTR Website	Season 1, 2005: Vladimir Sapovskiy Season 2, 2007: Nikolai Timohin	Season 1 Valeriy Meladze Katerina Von Gechmen-Valdek Aleksandr Revzin Valeriya Season 2 Valery Garkalin Tigran Keosayan	Season 1 Aleksey Chumakov Elena Vorobey Season 2 Tutti Larsen
	Faktor A Фактор А	Russia 1 Website	Season 1, 2011: Sergei Savin	Lolita Milyavskaya Roman Emelyanov Boris Krasnov Alla Pugacheva (chairperson)	Philipp Kirkorov Vladimir Zelenski
Serbia	X Faktor Srbija	Radio Television of Serbia
Slovenia	X Factor Slovenia	POP TV	Season 1, 2012: Current season	Damjan Damjanovič Jadranka Juras Aleš Uranjek	Peter Poles Vid Valič
Spain	Factor X	Cuatro Website	Season 1, 2007: María Villalón Season 2, 2008: Vocal Tempo Season 3, 2012: Upcoming season	Miqui Puig Eva Perales Jorge Flo	Núria Roca
Sweden	X Factor	TV4	Season 1, 2012: Upcoming season	Andreas Carlsson Marie Serneholt Orup Ison Glasgow	David Hellenius
Ukraine	The X Factor	STB Website Website	Season 1, 2010-2011: Olexiy Kuznetsov Season 2, 2011: Victor Romanchenko	Igor Kondratyuk Sergei Sosedov Yolka Seryoga	Oksana Marchenko
United Kingdom & Ireland	The X Factor	ITV (ITV1/STV/UTV) (also ITV1 HD/STV HD/UTV HD) (UK); TV3 (Republic of Ireland)	Series 1, 2004: Steve Brookstein Series 2, 2005: Shayne Ward Series 3, 2006: Leona Lewis Series 4, 2007: Leon Jackson Series 5, 2008: Alexandra Burke Series 6, 2009: Joe McElderry Series 7, 2010: Matt Cardle Series 8, 2011: Little Mix Series 9, 2012: Upcoming season	Current Louis Walsh (series 1-) Tulisa Contostavlos (series 8-) TBA Gary Barlow (series 8-) Former Simon Cowell (series 1-7) Dannii Minogue (series 4-7) Sharon Osbourne (series 1-4) Brian Friedman (series 4 auditions) Cheryl Cole (series 5-7) Kelly Rowland (series 8)	Current Dermot O'Leary Caroline Flack (The Xtra Factor) Olly Murs (The Xtra Factor) Former Kate Thornton Ben Shephard (The Xtra Factor) Fearne Cotton (The Xtra Factor) Holly Willoughby (The Xtra Factor) Konnie Huq (The Xtra Factor)
	The X Factor: Battle of the Stars		Series 1, 2006: Lucy Benjamin
United States	The X Factor USA	Fox	Season 1, 2011: Melanie Amaro Season 2, 2012: Upcoming season	Current Simon Cowell L.A. Reid TBA TBA Former Cheryl Cole(auditions) Nicole Scherzinger Paula Abdul	Current TBA Former Steve Jones

Disputes and controversies

Main article: Controversy and criticism of The X Factor

Over the years many controversies have taken place. Right at the start, Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller claimed that The X Factor had copied the format of his own show; through his company 19 TV he filed a lawsuit against The X Factor producers FremantleMedia, Simon Cowell, and Cowell's company Syco. The parties involved reached settlement out of court.

See also

• List of reality television show franchises
• List of television show franchises